AN addiction expert yesterday accused GPs of being unethical for failing to warn about the dangerous side-effects of methadone.

Peter McCann said research has shown that addicts using the heroin substitute ran the risk of brain damage, heart problems and brittle bones.

He called on the Government to invest more money in residential drug rehab.

McCann, who owns Castle Craig Hospital, a rehab clinic in the Borders, also praised the Record for highlighting the astonishing scale of Scotland’s £36million-a-year methadone trade.

Some people have been stuck on the drug for 30 years.

McCann said: “Methadone is a massive problem and an easy way out. They claim it reduces crime and that’s all very well and good.

“But the person’s health must be the first consideration, not the legal aspects.

“It is unethical to take other considerations into account and neglect the health of the person.

“Methadone is very useful for short-term detoxification and for stabilising people.

“But if they are left on it for years, it does cause damage.”

McCann said that new research by the Norwegian Department of Public Health found long-term methadone treatment may affect nerve cells in the brain.

He said: “The longer you are on it, the more your judgment and decision-making are impaired.

“In the Netherlands, they are having to open up special old peoples’ homes for prematurely senile methadone addicts.

“There is also evidence it may be causing irregular rhythm for the heart, which can lead to stroke damage. Another study found it was causing osteoporosis – thinning of the bones.”

But McCann, who runs Castle Craig with his wife Margaret, believes the truth is being hidden from users. He said: “Doctors are not telling patients of this cognitive impairment.

Castle Craig Hospital which is run by Peter McCann

“They should be telling them once every six months at least and should be at least giving them alternatives to stopping.

“I asked one eminent doctor at a conference about whether doctors were warning patients.

“He is a great proponent of methadone maintenance and he had to admit doctors weren’t warning their patients about it.

“Quite frankly, that’s unethical.

“We had a lady from the Borders who’d been on it for 20 years and was crying to come off it. She wasn’t getting any help and they wouldn’t fund her to come to us.

“It is a very, very unfortunate state of affairs and it is going to get worse.” McCann described the record 584 drug and alcohol-related deaths in Scotland last year – which saw methadone claim more lives than heroin – as “terrible”.

He also praised our week-long series of special methadone reports, saying: “The Record has been campaigning very well. The coverage has been excellent.”

He believes the way forward is to change the rules so it’s easier to invest in residential care.

He said: “The new regulations have made it very expensive to set up treatment centres.

“But young addicts would be quite happy to be in hostel-type accommodation.

“You could then have good-quality therapy run by counsellors. But the rules say you have to provide everyone with single rooms of 12.5 square metres with an en-suite of 2.5 square metres.

“That’s ridiculous when in some of the most expensive places in the US, such as the Betty Ford Clinic, they share bedrooms.”

The value of such treatment is that it takes the addict away from temptation.

McCann said: “If people are treated in the community, there are drug dealers knocking on the door and there are probably people in the family on drugs.

“How a person is expected to get better in those circumstances is just beyond comprehension.”

McCann said good quality care would cost from £400 to £500 a week and patients would need three to six months to help kick their habit.

He added: “That is much cheaper than years of methadone maintenance.”

The Daily Record has carried out a series of investigations into methadone